


An Unlikely Species

by GuesssWho



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Alien Biology, Fictional document, Gen, Headcanon, Yeerks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 08:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3202610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuesssWho/pseuds/GuesssWho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short treatise on the evolution of the Yeerks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unlikely Species

It is always simpler to understand the evolution of other species than your own. However, few aliens actually enjoy the Yeerk homeworld, even now that the Empire is only an unpleasant memory. Too much lightning, too much ugliness. Even the Yeerks ourselves, when using host creatures with strong vision, find the homeworld a less-than-beautiful place--although it is unsure whether that is innate, a result of the host mind influencing us or the consequence of being introduced to the wider universe by Andalites, who disdain all but themselves. So we have had to look for our history on our own.

It is generally thought that the faults in the evolution of Yeerkish intelligence and parasitism can be blamed on the licker-beasts, or tongues of the world. They are unpleasant and dangerous creatures, and even now we have not been able to dig one up and examine it alive. It is thought that they are mostly gut, with only a mouth protruding from the ground. A long tongue large enough to grab an Andalite whips out to catch anything close, and this is thought to be part of the reason Gedds have uneven legs.

Much like the panda of Earth, Gedds are a pathetic kludge of traits barely good enough to keep it alive. But where the panda eats only tough plants with a meat-eater's digestive system, the Gedd stumbles and hops on one long leg and one short leg. The only use for such a thing that we can think of is gathering food that would otherwise be slightly too close to a licker, with the shorter leg facing it, for the tongues tend to hug the ground.

Because the Gedd are rather clumsy creatures, they fall into Yeerk pools on a regular basis. This made them the only reliable method of transport for our ancestors, but not always reliable enough. If a Gedd wandered into an area with no pools the proto-Yeerk had to slowly crawl back to a pool, and Gedds were known to fall into the same pool several time in a row, especially if they were young, tired or injured.

To improve upon this, the proto-Yeerks evolved methods of mentally prodding the Gedds to keep them on track, and enough intelligence to figure out the best places to send them. By the time of first contact true Yeerks had evolved, and were a rather peaceful species due to having few resources worth fighting over. Unfortunately, first contact gave us a vital new resource--the beings that had contacted us. Andalites were infinitely better than Gedds, and Yeerk civilization was barely past our stone age at the time while Andalites had spaceships. Our Empire and our war was born of envy.

Recorded by Slasca 3993, Sulp Niar Pool, in Generation 736


End file.
